Safety lock for railway switches



Sept. 9, 1952 J. w. M GARRY SAFETY LOCK FOR RAILWAY SWITCHES Filed July 27, 1950 Mariam Gar/y IN V EN TOR.

, 3 that the locking plunger housing is a metal casting or body providing an upright barrel 29 bored to accommodate the plunger head, the spring,

shown. This support for the head, though desirable, may be omitted if desired. I V V Integral with the barrel 23 and the hollow boss 3|, are the mounting plate portions :and 350i the casting or body, these plate portions being disposed at right angles to one another so that the plate portion 34 may rest against the vertical side of the rail tiefwhile the "portion35 rests up,- on the upper face of the tie, or withina recess 36 formed therein to permit the top of plate portion 35 to lie "flush withthe upper face of the l tie. By means of bolts-screws or'other fasteners 37, these plate portionsof the casting or body may be securely fixed to thegrail tie, as shown.

normally, and to release the "throwing lever ;concurrently with retraction of the locking-plunger,

so displaced, the throwing lever 9 may be lifted and'swung about the axis of the switch stand operating shaft l0. When returning the throwing lever to the home position illustrated, the latch will be struck thereby at the location X, resulting in momentary displacement of the latch to the inoperative position at which the throwing lever may enter the throat 55 of the lever rest 56. Upon seating of the lever upon the rest, the latch uis ,returned totheoperative position illustrated, .by the action of its iweighted end 51.

It will be understood from the foregoing explanation that latching of the throwing lever,

so that by the single act of depressing the-treadle 1-8 with his foot, the switchman'may-with one hand throw the weighted lever 9 "to actuate "the switch'stand and the switch point associated therewith; Suchmeansincludes a latch stand 39 having a base 40 to-be secured by-means of bolts, screws or the like upon theupper face of therail tie adjacent to the lock housing and its "supporting plate 35. Thestand 3-9 may he a-castinggor a stamping of metal, includin --a;pair of spaced upright' -arms M and between which-may be loosely accommodateda' latch trip lever 43, andj-a latch 44. The latch is pivoted at between the arms ll- 12 near the top thereof 'for'free movement from the operative "full line position, to "the inoperative brokenline position'indicated at 46, These movements of the latch are controlled'by the trip lever 43, which moveswith the treadle [-8.

The trip lever maybe integral. with the treadle if desired-or it may be a-separatepart secured to the rock shaft I9. 111' the example shown upon the drawing, the treadle has -a hub 41 integral therewith and the'lever '43 is integralwith the hub. Asquared or'angular hole in the hub fits over the correspondingly shaped end of the rock shaft, to-ensure against relative rotation of the parts. Accordingly-thetreadle, the plunger operating arm 22, and the latch trip lever 43, always move inunison. Any of these parts may easily be replacedby removing the cotter pin 49, the :washer 59, andthe fasteners 5l that secure thebearing bracket '2! to the'rail tie. 'Ihe treadle' and lever 43 may be'secured to'the rock shaft by means of pins'set screws, or otherwise if desired.

When the treadle is depressed, the upper end 52 of the trip lever'bearsagainst the adjacent edge ofthe-latchand the cam 53 formed thereon, torotate the latch in counter-clockwise direction about pivot 45, thereby to displace the nose 54 of the cam to a position between the spaced arms of the stand. With the nose of the latch when the lever is directed to its seat or rest V5.6,isautomatic in the event that the switchman fails to depress the treadle I8. The weight 51 .tends always to restore the latch 44 to operative position, and at the same time maintains the treadle in the normally elevated position, while maintaining the locking plunger ,in the locked position. -Howeverthe wei hted-end of theiatch 45 cannot be depended=upon entirely, to maintain the locking plunger 17'' ;in-'1ocking engagement with the bar 15, for :the r'easonjthat the latch trip lever 43 which normally may transmit the-latch motions, is subject tobreak-age jby accident. In'fact,'the latch trip'lever Bpreferably is weakened by -means of notches "59 or otherwise, to ensure breakage in the event that the latch stand and' possibly also the switch: stand, are swept from theirpositions upon the rail :ties by objectsprojectingfrom a passing'train. To ensurea locked condition of the locking "bar 15 under such circumstances, therefore; the locking plunger is provided with a separate means, 'in the form of spring '26, to avoid the possibility of accidental switch point displacement due to destruction of any part or all of the equipment above the' level of the rail'ties;

The :safety feature above mentioned may {be enhancedrand' rendered effective to the maximum ext-entpby locating the treadle l8 and thelo'cking plunger actuating elemehtsbeneath-the level of the rail -tie, as shown upon the drawing. fllhe preferred-method of accomplishingthis i-s to cut away the material of the tie from the upper-face downwardly and outwardly to the tie end,-thereby to form a lowered surface 60 upon whichito mount-the treadle bracket 2| 'andt'he rock shaft 19. This surface preferably is parallel to the upper face of "the tie, and may be depressed a distance amounting to approximately :half'the thickness of the standardrtie. The'bracket 2| may be secured to-the tie by'means of the screws, bolts, or other fasteners 5| ,in proper relation to-the latch stand and the locking plunger hou sing to ensure proper coordination of the working parts. With the arrangement as described and illustrated herein initial placement offithe separateparts of the "apparatus is made easy, and in the event 0f an accident resulting in destruction 'or displacement of any or allparts above the level of the ties, the locking jfunction of-th-e locking plunger will not be impaired, and the switch point-will not'be subject to displac e.- merit. Moreover, aquick, repair canflbe 'efiected by 'merely replacing the units damaged. H

In the event that the throwing lever for the switch -stand-is to be protected against unauthore ized manipulation, a padlock or other obstructive implement may be applied to the latch 44,,at the perforation 61 which is located beneath a head extension 62 of the latch stand. When so locked, thelatc'h cannot be rotated ,aboutitsjpivot 7 I 45 to afford access to the throwing lever. The switch point locking bar I5 is thereby protected against unauthorized manipulation also.

In conclusion, it is to be noted that the apparatus of the invention embodies various features which considerably advance the art, and

promote safety in the operation of the railroad. Accidents resulting from derailments and col-' lisions, due to the failure of switches to remain set after damage inflicted upon the switch stands, are reduced to a practical minimum by means of the invention herein disclosed. The absence of such derailments and collisions brings about a great saving in maintenance costs, and elimi-' cally trained personnel.

'Attention is directed to the simplicity of the -parts and the method of assembly thereof, re-

, sulting in a durable apparatus easily kept in perfect operating condition. The operation of the device is unafiected by icing, or by heavy accumulations of dirt, grease, and other foreign substances. The various features mentioned are vital to safe and profitable railroad operations.

It is to be understood that various modifications and changes in the structural details of the device may be made, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. Railway switch-point control apparatus for application to a rail tie having one end cut away downwardly and outwardly to the end of the tie, to provide a depressed open-sided flat seat as wide as the width of the tie, said apparatus comprising in combination: a switch-point locking bar connected to and movable with a switchpoint, said bar disposed beneath the level of the upper face of the tie for reciprocation lengthwise of the tie, stop means on the bar remote from the switch-point, an upright movable locking element, a housing including guide ,means for the locking element and for the bar, the guide means having an interconnecting opening through which the'locking element extends to engage the stop means on the bar, means for mounting the housing upon the tie at a location remote from the cut-away portion of the tie, a treadle bracket separate from the housing aforesaid, and means mounting the treadle bracket upon the tie within the cut-away area of the tie, a rock shaft extending transversely of the tie and journalled upon the treadle bracket for rocking movement upon an axis transversely of the tie and below the upper face'of the tie, a treadle fixed transversely to the rockshaft, and an arm fixedly related to said shaft atapproximate right angles, said arm having a free end loosely engaging the locking element, the treadle and the arm extending in opposite directions from' the rock shaft lengthwise of and below the locking element, to release the locking bar for movement with the switch-point.

2. The combination as recited in claim 1, including a latch stand for the throwing lever of a ground lever type switch stand, a movable latch on the stand to normally hold the throwing lever upon the stand, and an upstanding trip lever having a lower end fixed to the rock shaft, and

'an upper'end in alignment with the movable latch, for displacing the latch and releasing the throwing lever with each depression of the treadle.

3. Railway switch-point control apparatus for application to a rail tie having one end cut away downwardly and outwardly to the end of the tie, to provide a depressed open-sided fiat seat. as wide as the width of the tie, said apparatus comprising in combination: a switch-point locking bar for connection to and movable with a switchpoint, said bar disposed beneath the level of the upper face of the tie for reciprocation lengthwise of the tie, stop means on the bar remote from the switch-point, a movable locking element, a-

housing including guide means for the locking element and for the bar, the guide means having an interconnecting opening through which the locking element extends to engage the stop means on the bar, means for mounting the housing upon the tie at a location remote from the cut-away portion of the tie, a treadle separate from. the housing extending outwardly toward the'end of'the rail tie, means movably mounting the treadle upon the tie over the depressed seat thereof, and below the level of the upper face of the tie, for movement in a vertical plane which extends generally lengthwise of the tie, and an arm actuated by the treadle, said arm lying alongside of the rail tie and having an end operative upon the locking element to move the locking element out of engagement with the looking bar upon depression of the treadle.

4. A railway switch-point control apparatus as specified in claim 3, including a stand to support a switch-point throw lever, an upright trip lever fixed relative to the treadle for movement therewith, and a shiftable latch on the stand normally restraining the throw lever, said latch being in the path of movement of the trip lever and displaceable by the latter, to free the throw lever with each depression of the treadle.

JAMES W. MCGARRY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Huber June 1, 1943 

